I have a choice of 5 backup hard drives

single_lonely

Currently 500Gb*2 hard drive in PC.
I bought 2*1Tb Seagate hard drives off ebay to replace those.
( CrystalDiskInfo suggest less than 3,500hours use, Mine currently are at 25,000!)

I have also got a WD My Book Mirror edition
(has 2*1Tb hard drives which i can use in RAID 0 so 2 backup copies in one unit)

Also just bought 2 * BRAND NEW toshiba 3 Tb hard drive.

Should I replace the hard drives in the PC with the seagates and then use the WD unit to backup (so i have all data on 2 seperate HDD). or just the toshiba (so i only have 1 copy)?

Great to hear what experts think.

Johnmcl7

Is the WD in RAID 0 or do you mean RAID 1? RAID 0 is where the data is striped and is the opposite of RAID as the failure of one disk in the array means you lose all the data from both discs. RAID 1 is mirroring where data is mirrored across all the drives in the array so the failure of a disk means you don't lose any data.

I don't quite understand your question, you're planning on putting the two 1TB units in your PC and then choosing whether to use the WD or the Toshiba 3TB drives for a backup? The WD would be the obvious choice for a backup assuming it's RAID 1 and has suitable capacity as you're further protected against disk failure.

Is it two 3TB drives you've bought, what were you planning with them? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your question.

Depending on how you backup it's also worth considering keeping one backup separate to the others so if something happens to the main drives (issue with power, burglary) you've got another copy of the data to restore from. I backup most of my systems to a NAS box as it's quick and convenient but also back up to a separate drive which is kept away from anything else so if anything did happen to the main machines/NAS, I've still got my data safe.

John

single_lonely

The WD is RAID 1 so effectively backup is on to hard drives but in one unit. Im confused, hence im on MSE

I could leave the 500Gb in the PC, but they have been used alot so dont want to push my luck.

So i could replace with 2*1Tb seagates in the PC and keep the backup on either the 3TB TOSHIBA's (brand new) or the WD unit (around 200hours usage). which is the better option?

Or another question (after thinking about your answer), use the WD in RAID 0 and then use the toshiba as a second backup (separate unit)?

thanks

closed

Just because they're oldish (<3 years use is nothing), doesn't mean they will fail. Backup to one or more of your many drives, and it doesn't matter if they do fail.

Johnmcl7

So the WD is currently RAID 1? I'm just getting a little confused by your references to RAID 0, I wouldn't use that configuration at all in your setup and stick with RAID 1 for the WD.

I agree with the post above regarding age as I've seen hard drives fail after just a month of use and plenty others that have kept going for many, many years. As long as you make sure you have a copy of data you want to keep somewhere, you're protected against failure. The WD unit is generally better for backing up as in a RAID 1 configuration it's protected against a drive failure (assuming it can warn you when this happens) although it depends on how much capacity you're needing for backing up.

John

single_lonely

Thanks John and Closed.
I bought the WD unit as it isnt old and little used, and has RAID - reasons for buying.

The WD would hold more than enough I think.
it got 2*1tb HDD.
How much data would you safely store on there?

Would you suggest formatting FULLY before use or is that overkill.
(I have read it won't write data to bad sectors/damaged area if there is any)

victor2

single_lonely wrote: »

Thanks John and Closed.
I bought the WD unit as it isnt old and little used, and has RAID - reasons for buying.

The WD would hold more than enough I think.
it got 2*1tb HDD.
How much data would you safely store on there?

Would you suggest formatting FULLY before use or is that overkill.
(I have read it won't write data to bad sectors/damaged area if there is any)

If the WD is setup for RAID 1 (mirroring), then your two 1TB drives in it will hold a total of 1TB of data. Should one of the drives fail, your data will still be secure.
I'd put one or both of the 3TB drives in the computer, but keep the 500GB drives and use them with a caddy for portable data storage. They could keep functioning for years yet.

You could create an image backup of the main operating system disk and the just do incremental backups of your data files on a regular basis. Windows 7 and 8 have a very good backup utility for this purpose. Just make new image backups as and when you feel you have made significant system changes.

single_lonely

how much data can i SAFELY store on a 1Tb hard drive.
I have read else where 10 percent at least should be empty, is that too much?

victor2

You can safely store 1Tb of data on a 1Tb drive. Just fill it up with regular backups until it runs out of room. Then, assuming the backup utility won't automatically overwrite the oldest backup, delete a few manually to make more room. It makes sense to always have as much space free as a full backup will require.

For example, I use the Windows 7 backup utility to backup my data files to a 1Tb drive daily. A full backup is about 50Gb. In my case it makes incremental backups for about a month before starting with a new full data backup, so I just delete the old ones to make sure there is always at least 50Gb free. I have backups going back about a year, plus an operating system image.

single_lonely

If anyone is reading this can i suggest you read these stickies too:
Backing Up
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/597170
How often do you back up?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/40297